


To Secret Spies And Ob(li)vious Pining

by JustGalsBeingPals



Category: Agent Carter (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Peggy Carter, Donuts, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Gay Panic, Happy Ending, Minor Peggy Carter/Angie Martinelli, Natasha Romanov Is Cool But She's Secretly A Gay Disaster Inside, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Peggy Carter Is A Gay Disaster, Pining, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 02:45:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19714687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustGalsBeingPals/pseuds/JustGalsBeingPals
Summary: Peggy looked down, feeling heat on her cheeks. She dared to look at her colleague and saw a blank expression.The thing was, she was a damn professional, but she also had weaknesses she obviously didn’t like to share. One of those weaknesses was a good old Earl Grey, perfect temperature, with no milk but - despite her being British - just a hint of whiskey.The other weakness was Natasha Romanov.





	To Secret Spies And Ob(li)vious Pining

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chilibabie07](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chilibabie07/gifts).



> Thank you so much to the lovely [NoraHanaJenkins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoraHanaJenkins) for beta'ing this!  
> I also apologize to British people if I offended any of you with Peggy's tea-drinking habits
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!

Peggy was trying to understand if the cute waitress at the diner was flirting with her or not, when her phone buzzed. 

**Romanov:** _Fury wants to meet us ASAP, come at SHIELD HQ_

She sighed and picked up her wallet, upset that she wouldn’t get to finish her waffles. 

_ Here we go again…  _

She stood up and went towards the counter to pay for her meal, happy that she at least managed a full two days without SHIELD desperately needing her skills. 

“Aw, you’re leaving already? You didn’t like the waffles?” the curly-haired waitress asked, with an adorable pout. 

“An emergency came up at work, but the waffles were lovely. And so was the service” she winked at the girl, who blushed and let out a giggle. 

She left a generous tip and got out of the diner. Her phone buzzed again. 

**Romanov:** _ Come on!!!!  _

**Romanov:** _ It’s someone’s bday and there are donuts!!!!!  _

**Romanov:** _ I’m gonna finish them all if you don’t show up in the next ten minutes  _

Peggy smiled at her coworker’s texts. Natasha Romanov appeared terrifying to everyone who knew of her only from reputation, but to her closest friends, she was nothing but fiercely loyal and, as she found out only recently, extremely dorky. 

They hadn’t been friends for long, mostly because their interactions had all been business related up until two months ago when a mole had leaked secret info about some criminal organizations. She and Natasha had been tasked to find the sleeper agents and get rid of them. Their work had required many sleepless nights at hers or at Romanov’s place, which had led to a bond forming between them. Since then, there had been many movie nights that involved the terrifying Natasha Romanov in worn out, comfy clothes, drinking vodka like a stereotypical Russian and falling asleep on her shoulder. 

**Carter:** _ You’d better leave me some of those donuts or I’ll make you regret it, Natalia  _

**Romanov:** _ five minutes :P  _

Peggy ran the rest of the way. 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


Fury was pleased to find them both already in the conference room, one last donut in the box. He didn’t bother sitting down, throwing two identical manila folders in front of them. 

“We have a lead on the arms dealers the FBI has been struggling with lately. Apparently, there will be a meeting tomorrow night where they’ll be selling their merchandise to a few important people” 

Peggy looked at Natasha, dubious, then at her folder. It didn’t make much sense for SHIELD to be taking this mission, especially with two of the highest ranking agents in the organization. 

“And what are we going to have to do there, Fury?” Romanov voiced her doubts. 

“The FBI will take care of the trade, obviously. You’ll have a different mission. What matters to us, specifically, is not the deal, but the time and location” 

In the folder, they found a picture of a mansion and then one of a balding man, who looked about seventy years old. 

_ Name: Phelps, Harold Kennedy  _

_ Gender: Male  _

_ Race: Caucasian  _

_ Birthday: 1/11/1951  _

_ Social security number: 052-64-7416 _

_ Address: 2129 Rosewood Lane, Wesley Hills, NY, 10901  _

_ Height: 5’5’’  _

_ Weight: 170.3 pounds  _

_ Hair: Gray  _

_ Blood type: B+  _

_ Civil status: Widower, no children  _

_ Employment status: Retired  _

_ Occupation: Owner of Phelps Pharmaceutical Industries  _

_ PC Password: WellAlwaysHaveParis  _

Peggy heard Natasha chuckle, probably at the ridiculous password. 

“Who is this man, exactly and why are we reading his file?” she asked, back to business. 

“This motherfucker is the host of the party, which will be a diversion for the arms dealers to sell their goods. You’re gonna infiltrate and use both the party and the deal as diversions to get the information you need” 

“What are we looking for?” Natasha inquired. 

“Mister Phelps, here, is suspected of being affiliated with a neo-nazi organization. Have you ever heard of HYDRA?”

“Isn’t it a pharmaceutical company?” Peggy had heard of them. There had been articles about their miraculous cure for Alzheimer and others about a scandal involving the current owner, Alexander Pierce, of which she couldn’t remember the details. 

“It is. It’s also shady as fuck. The sleeper agent you brought me a couple of months ago said their name during interrogation. We’ve been looking into them ever since. They’ve made suspicious trades with Phelps Pharma and the investigation found out about some… Unpleasant discoveries” Fury frowned as if the thought of it made him sick.

“Illegal human experimentation?” Natasha guessed. 

“See, this is why you’re one of my best agents, Romanov” 

“Do we have free reins or do we have to act following specific rules?” Peggy asked.

“You’re gonna pretend to be newlyweds, just gotten into the pharmaceutical business. Not so important that your disappearance would raise suspicions” 

Peggy looked down, feeling heat on her cheeks. She dared to look at her colleague and saw a blank expression. 

The thing was, she was a damn professional, but she also had weaknesses she obviously didn’t like to share. One of those weaknesses was a good old Earl Grey, perfect temperature, with no milk but - despite her being British - just a hint of whiskey. 

The other weakness was Natasha Romanov. 

It had been a recent development. The redhead had been sleeping at her place for a few nights during their previous assignment. One morning Peggy had come into the kitchen to see her sitting on the table, legs dangling in the air, wearing one of her softest sweaters, no pants, greasy hair tied into a messy bun, eating biscuits from the box. 

At that very moment, Peggy Carter had realized that she was terribly in love with Natasha Romanov and in too deep to back down. 

“Can we decide on our backstory?” Romanov pulled her away from her train of thoughts. 

“I’m giving you full discretionary power, as long as you stick to the plan. I want you to be at the party tomorrow at 9 p.m. sharp. You’re dismissed” 

Peggy let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. 

“Well, darling, do we want to go back to our honeymoon?” she had no idea why that question had come out of her mouth. 

_ Peggy, you’re a dumbass.  _

“Sure we do, light of my life” Natasha smirked, while Peggy mentally regretted every decision that brought her to that particular moment. 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


“So, my name is Margaret Campbell, yours is Natalie Wilson, we’ve known each other since college but didn’t keep in touch. We met again at a coffee shop two years ago, started seeing each other, got married three months ago and started a small pharmaceutical business called Campbell Pharma Inc. How does it sound?” 

They were at Natasha’s house, eating strawberry ice-cream straight out of the box with spoons, on the floor of her living room. The redhead had ice-cream at the corner of her mouth and Peggy desperately wanted to lick it away. Instead, she explained their cover story, to keep her mind far from less than convenient thoughts. 

“Why do we have to use your last name for the company?” 

_ Bloody hell, don’t you pout like that at me, Romanov, I am a woman with needs.  _

“Because I’m older than you so I get to decide?” 

“Shouldn’t we be the same age, since we met at college?” 

“I was your senior. I am your senior even out of the mission, so I choose” her assertion was met with eyebrows rising increasingly high, so much that they almost ended up reaching the redhead’s hairline.

“Whatever, Carter. You’re so bossy” 

Peggy stuffed her mouth with ice-cream to avoid making comments on just how bossy she could be in a different context. 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


The following night, they were out of the car that had taken them to the Phelps mansion, earpieces in place.

Peggy took a deep breath. 

“Ready, Natalie?” 

“As ready as I’ll ever be, Margaret” 

“Come on, we’ll be amazing, just remember to look at me like I hung the moon. Think you can manage, Romanov?” 

She heard her companion mutter something but didn’t manage to grasp exactly what she had said. Deciding to ignore that, she intertwined her fake-wife’s arm with hers and started walking towards the door. 

“Good evening, ladies, what can I do for you?” an old man at the entrance asked. 

“Oh, good evening, sir, my wife and I,” they both smiled brightly at that “are here for Mr. Phelps’ party, could you please let us in?” Natasha said to the doorman. 

“Of course Ma’am, if I can ask your names” 

“Oh Gosh, excuse my wife for her forgetfulness. Margaret Campbell and Natalie Wilson, sir, we should be on the list” Peggy then stated, showing their fake IDs. 

“Very well, ladies, have a nice time at Mr. Phelps house!” the man let them inside and they found themselves in a wide hall, full of smartly dressed people mingling around, a violinist and a pianist on the opposite side of the room. 

“I hope there are canapés, I’m starving.” Natasha said, making Peggy chuckle. 

They spotted the host and immediately walked towards him. When he saw them, he made a confused face, that was quickly masked by a smile. 

“Good evening, Mr. Phelps, thank you so much for inviting us! We’re still new in the industry, so we weren’t expecting to be invited to your wonderful party and yet here we are!” Natasha exclaimed, shaking his hand vigorously. 

“It’s my pleasure to have you both, Mrs…” 

“Natalie Wilson. And this is my wife, Margaret” a flash of recognition went through his eyes, and his smile widened. 

“Ladies, this is my wonderful girlfriend, Martha” he looked at the woman beside him “and I sure hope you’ll enjoy yourselves in my modest home, please do as if it were your own” they smiled politely and made small talk until someone else reclaimed the Phelps’s attention. 

“Hey Marge, wanna dance?” Peggy was startled by a hand on her shoulder, which she discovered belonged to her date. 

“What?” 

“Come on, we might as well make it a good night. We have plenty of time to do our job” Natasha was already dragging her in the middle of the hall. Peggy tried in vain to stop her. 

“I’d rather get this over with as soon as we can” 

“You hate being my wife that much?” it was obviously a joke, but there was something in her eyes that made Peggy want to answer seriously. 

“You know bloody well that’s not what I meant, Natalie” 

“Then dance with me” 

Soon Peggy found herself dancing with her “wife” in front of everyone in the room. Natasha had dyed her hair blonde for the occasion and wore a long black dress, with a rip that went from mid-thigh (low enough to perfectly hide the knife in her garter) to her right foot. She was a sight for sore eyes and Peggy was in love. They were swaying, following the rhythm of the song. Natasha had her hands on her shoulders, while hers were on her date’s waist. 

She wasn’t blind to the looks they were getting, but she hardly cared. There were people whispering, men following their every movement with hungry eyes, and she wanted to plant her high heels in their eyes but she didn’t want to let go of the woman in her arms, who was also not oblivious to their surroundings. She was never oblivious, except maybe for Peggy’s feelings. Thankfully. 

“Wanna go upstairs after this?” Natasha whispered in her ear and Peggy forgot how to breathe. She nodded. 

When the song ended, her fake wife took her by the hand and led her to the stairs. When they were far from the other guests’ eyes and ears, Natasha let go. 

“Hopefully nobody will follow us after that show. Unless they want to die, but Fury said no casualties so our hands are tied, Carter” 

It was like waking up from a daze. Her sharp focus returned, her heart broke a little, and her mind went back to the mission. 

They were looking for Mr. Phelps’s private office, where they would hopefully find his computer and thus the information they needed about his deal with HYDRA. They decided to split up, so they could find the incriminating computer faster. They both had an empty pen-drive where they could download the files; once one of them found the computer and downloaded the info, the other pen-drive would be used as a diversion in case everything went FUBAR. 

Peggy was in the master bedroom, looking for any physical copy of something that could interest them when she heard someone approaching. It would have been impossible to slip out of the room without being noticed, so she rolled under the bed and hoped for the best. 

There were two people in the room, obviously drunk, laughing like idiots. They fell on the bed and Peggy prayed to God that they would just fall asleep. 

They didn’t, and Peggy decided to escape crawling on the floor while they were busy foreplaying. 

“Look, Martha, there’s someone on the floor! Hey, girl on the floor, want to join us?” the guy said, and the woman called Martha laughed. 

_ I am a damn professional, a trained agent, and I regret everything.  _

She looked up and recognized Phelps’ girlfriend with a man she didn’t know, and knew right away that if the woman saw her face she would be fucked, so she decked her on the nose and did the same to her male companion. They both passed out immediately. 

She got out and went looking for Natasha. She found her in the last room, bent in front of a computer, download already at 70%. 

“Quick, we have to leave” 

“What’s wrong, Marge? Did you not like the canapés?” the redhead teased. 

“I panicked and punched Phelps’ girlfriend and her fuckbuddy in the face. I probably fucked everything up. Please don’t be mad” 

Natasha laughed, then she said, fondly, “You probably did. Come on, when the download is complete we can leave” 

“They asked me to join them! What was I supposed to do?” 

“I don’t know honey, decline politely? Actually join them? Follow your heart” Peggy snorted unattractively. 

“As if” 

The download was at 95% when things went awry. 

“What are you two doing in my office?” Phelps barged in the room and asked angrily. 

“Well, your bedroom was already occupied by your girlfriend and her boyfriend, sir, we had to find another accommodation.” Natasha said, deadpan, while he gaped and Peggy tried not to laugh. 

The computer pinged. Natasha took the pen-drive back immediately and took Peggy’s hand in hers. 

“It was a lovely evening, Mr. Phelps!” and they jumped out from the open window. 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


“So now HYDRA and Phelps Pharma know that we’re investigating them. This isn’t great, but at least we have the information!” Peggy said, pressing a bag of frozen peas on the lump on her forehead. Natasha nodded weakly, as to not worsen her headache, nursing a broken wrist. It could have been worse, considering. 

Fury sighed, probably asking himself why he picked up the secret agency business. 

“Romanov, you’re on leave ‘till you can get rid of that cast. Carter, you have one week. I’m gonna get a drink” and he left, his black coat waving after him. 

“So...” Natasha said, clearing her throat. 

“Yes?” 

“That went well” 

“Indeed” 

“Carter?” 

“Yes, Romanov?” 

“Wanna… Uh… Try out the coffee shop thing?” 

“Like a date?” 

“Yes. If you want. I mean, I get it if you don’t, we’re coworkers after all and-” 

“That would be lovely, Natasha” 

And lovely it turned out to be. 

**Author's Note:**

> To the amazing [stranded_in_hell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stranded_in_hell/pseuds/stranded_in_hell), because there is not enough PeggyNat on this website
> 
> I would really really really like to know what you guys think about this fic, so leave kudos or comments if you want!


End file.
